great grilling of hank paulson by larry kudlow around causes of crisis. specifically, larry’s theory is that “conveniently timed” changes to mark-to-market accounting in 2007 sowed seeds of the 2008 collapse. Markets collapsed over 2007/2008, and then and only then rallied when mark-t-market accounting was changed in March 2009(day that market bottomed and then went on 60% rally).

you could also take a gander that golden sachs probably bet against the whole market knowing that mark-to-market changes in 2007 would lead to issues down the road.

no matter what caused crisis, paulson again looks like a freaking bumbling idiot that shouldn’t be calling any shots….Vodpod videos no longer available.

washington post (owned by warren buffet via berkshire hathaway which owns a ton of goldman sachs) must be in bed with goldman to run a soft ball all-sunshine fluff story like this…who cares that this random guy moved to the mountains ‘to clear his head’ for a while…not one mention of what a cluster$%% these bankers created.

Monday, Jan. 11, was a painful day for Jon S. Corzine, the leader of Wall Street’s most prestigious investment bank, Goldman, Sachs & Co. That morning, from his unassuming office at 85 Broad Street in the heart of New York’s financial district, Corzine called clients and regulators to tell them his astonishing news: He was no longer chief executive of Goldman Sachs. One call was to William J. McDonough, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. ”I think he is a very fine human being and a high-quality professional,” says McDonough, who negotiated with Corzine the rescue of Long-Term Capital Management last September. ”Personally, I will regret that I will not be able to work with him as closely as I did in his previous capacity.”

Later that morning, Goldman put out a terse press release, with the news that Corzine ”has decided to relinquish the CEO title.” He would remain co-chairman to help with the initial public offering of Goldman’s stock, which was postponed when the stock market plunged in August and September. The news about Corzine shocked the Street. Employees were ”blown away,” says one senior manager. Securities & Exchange Commission Chairman Arthur Levitt Jr. says: ”I think he’s probably as broad-gauged a leader as the industry has seen since [former Goldman Senior Partner] John Whitehead.” Some Goldman clients were equally unnerved by Corzine’s demotion, with one corporate client even saying he may take his investment banking business elsewhere. ”My confidence in Goldman Sachs depends on my confidence in Jon Corzine,” he says.

Insiders and competitors alike say Corzine was ousted in a coup within Goldman’s all-powerful five-man executive committee. Corzine was forced aside by a troika of senior bankers: his co-chief executive, Henry ”Hank” M. Paulson Jr.; Goldman’s top investment banker, John L. Thornton; and Corzine’s protege, Chief Financial Officer John A. Thain. ”Everyone liked Corzine. No one likes to see someone ganged up on,” says one insider.

check out how these assholes thought their ivory tower bullshit beat common sense any day….at least all three legacies have been completely sh$t on by this meltdown…

watch pbs’ frontline special to get more insight into how fucked our whole system is….Lawrence Summers to Brooksly Born in 1998: “the whole financial system will collapse if you regulate (i.e. open the hood) on derivatives.”…guess we just waited 10 years for the shitstorm to get 100x as big.

can’t wait to see hearings if this is in fact where this is going….”so mister paulson…sounds like you saw you’re $900 million dollar goldman sachs fortune about to go up in smoke…so you threw together the bailout???”